6 ms·

Surely kids still try to make gunpowder, what are you talking about? And for who but kids are pocket knives and chenistry sets made? > there was a time when ma

Surely kids still try to make gunpowder, what are you talking about? And for who but kids are pocket knives and chenistry sets made? > there was a time when making explosives was a childhood right of passage along with chemistry sets, making fires, even having a pocket knife.

Zenst 8y ago
In the UK, both are now illegal, can't even sell a knife to anybody under 18, same with glue and many things above and beyond alcohol and tobacco. Equally, having a knife in public, would be mandatory jail in the UK in the current climate. For a child, they would be taken into care and some serious nightmares for the parents from social services and the police. As for explosives, all the above, but far worse. By default you would get classed a terrorist until proven innocent style justice on that one, again the current climate.
- ada1981 8y ago
  My friends and I grew up field testing pretty much everything in the anarchist cook book. Our summers were filled making exotic explosives and blowing things up. It’s a wonder we all lived, with no major injuries or jail time. Our antics would land a kid these days in Guantanamo Bay.
  - BFLpL0QNek 8y ago
    Having a copy of the anarchist / jolly roger cookbook would have you serving jail time in 2019. I remember a time where you would see printed copies at car boot sales or numerous geocity copies.
    - Symbiote 8y ago
      Not on its own. It's been considered additional evidence for (planning) terrorism as far as I know.
    - ada1981 8y ago
      You could buy it at a local comic book store in the 90s in Erie, PA. (Ps, my local pizza shop, just down the road from the comic shop, was the feature of the Netflix doc Evil Genius. The Pizza Bomber was the dude who brought us our pizza and my best friends managed the shop when it all went down.)
- frosted-flakes 8y ago
  What kind of knives are we talking about? Are even mini Swiss Army knives with 1.5" blades banned? What about a multi-tool like a Leatherman Wave, which has three 3" blades along with pliers, etc? I carry my leatherman everywhere I go, and wouldn't blink if I saw a 14 year old with one. Ontario, Canada.
  - Zak 8y ago
    UK law is that a folding knife under 3" is generally legal to carry in public. Anything else requires a "good reason", which can be problematic if the cop/judge doesn't see things your way. A court ruling some time ago decided that a folding knife with a locking mechanism is actually a fixed blade and therefore not generally legal to carry. Traditional Swiss Army Knives are non-locking and most of them are under 3". Most modern multitools do have locking blades and would run afoul of the aforementioned court ruling. I'm not sure if being under 18 changes things, but it very well might given the UK has such a hostile attitude toward teenagers that it popularized the use of a low-grade sonic weapon to discourage their presence in public spaces (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito).
    - darkpuma 8y ago
      Sounds like the leatherman I had as a teenager would be illegal then; that's pretty nuts. The most dangerous thing I ever did with it was take apart a microwave oven, and that didn't even involve the blade.
      - tikkabhuna 8y ago
        I have a leatherman in London with a locking blade. It was a Christmas present from my dad and I emailed the local police about the legality of it. Ultimately, if you're walking round with it in the bottom of your bag and you have a use for it, you'll be fine. They're looking to stop people from having it in their pocket as they're walking round town. Same with the kitchen knives, got it down the back of your trousers 11pm loitering around, they're gonna get you. They're legal to have at home as well, and can be bought on Amazon.
- blibble 8y ago
  tesco sells gunpowder perfectly legally in the form of fireworks (but yes you have to be 18)
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Fireworks are not legal for sale or possession in the more "progressive" parts of the US. (quotes added to emphasize the irony)
- DanBC 8y ago
  > Equally, having a knife in public, would be mandatory jail in the UK in the current climate. No, this is untrue, please don't spread misinformation like this. If you're carrying a small and legal knife you're okay. If you're carrying a bigger knife but have a good reason you're okay. It's only if you're taking a knife into a football stadium or school or if you're affiliated with a gang that you're going to risk prosecution, and even then jail would be unusual. https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-knives-bladed-and-pointed-articles https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-kniv... Here's the CPS saying that youths may not even be charged, let alone receive a prison sentence: > The first arrest of a youth aged 16 years or over, for simple possession of an offensive weapon or sharply pointed blade, with no aggravating factors will normally result in a charge. > The first arrest of a youth aged under 16 years for simple possession of an offensive weapon or sharply pointed blade, with no aggravating factors, will result, in a Youth Caution or a Youth Conditional Caution. This must be supported by an appropriate YOT intervention, preferably with elements focussed on anti-knife crime education. For a youth under 16 years, an out of court disposal which is not a youth caution or a youth conditional caution should not be used. The sentencing council has guidance here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/bladed-articles-and-offensive-weapons-definitive-guideline/ https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/blade... For "Section 139 Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Bladed and Pointed Articles)" the recommendation is here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/bladed-articles-and-offensive-weapons-possession/ https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-co... > Maximum: 4 years’ custody > Offence range: Fine – 2 years 6 months’ custody But you need to read it to work out what tips it into prison sentence vs a fine.
  - bluedino 8y ago
    You can't take a knife into a football stadium here in the USA, either.
- RugnirViking 8y ago
  I was recently a child in the uk only a few years ago (I'm in my early 20s) and got into trouble for having a knife while playing out in the woods. I was sent home with the knife confiscated, and it was later returned to me. Of course, its entirely possible in other circumstances for it to be less/more acceptable. While at scouts we could of course carry knives without worry, and even met police officers who came to talk to us who had no issue with us carrying it while explicitly using them for scouting.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    Who decided it was a problem — police, or an interfering parent?
    - RugnirViking 8y ago
      police
_AzMoo 8y ago
All of the chemistry sets I've seen for the last 10 years have been severely nerfed. Nothing like the type of thing I had when I was a kid in the 80s.
ajdlinux 8y ago
> Surely kids still try to make gunpowder I'm in my mid-20s, having grown up in a jurisdiction where home fireworks have been banned for many years. Apart from my year 9 science teacher, who let off an explosion down one end of the school oval so we could time the difference seeing the flash and hearing the bang, I can't think of anyone I know who has told me they've ever tried to make gunpowder at home. Obviously I think I probably do know a few people who have but not told me. But it's not something that really ever crossed my mind as a thing you would do. (Of course, I'm very conformist by disposition, perhaps I just don't hang out with sufficiently exciting friends.) All things considered I think I prefer overly strict regulation on explosives to inadequately strict...
- TomMarius 8y ago
  I'm in my early 20's, living in Central Europe. We made a lot of gunpowder when I was a kid, and we shot fireworks at each other when I was teen. Up until around 13 I was carrying a knife everywhere I went. Sometimes we played cops & robbers and were shooting each other with realistically looking airsoft guns right on the street, later we bought more powerful weapons. When I was around 14 I had a very good looking fake of AK 47, a cop once stopped me when I was carrying it openly on my back - to ask where I bought it so he could buy it for his son. None of that is possible today I think, except for the knife, that is still okay where I live. Boy & Girl Scouts are wildly popular here for more than 100 years, that probably helps.
TheAceOfHearts 8y ago
In California you get carded when buying anti-dust compressed air, and they won't sell to minors. I was baffled when I was buying a few cans at my local Fry's and they asked me for ID. I remember having lots of compressed air cans around my home when I was growing up and I somehow managed to not kill myself.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  As you probably know, it isn't air but an alkane mix. I'm more concerned by the label "air" meaning people don't know this. A colleague sprayed it in his mouth... (no harm done, but still)
  - bluedino 8y ago
    You can get a buzz off canned air. There's a famous episode of the A&E show 'Intervention' with that topic (walking on sunshine)
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  This is more because folks huff canned air to get high. The first time I heard of this was someone huffing air freshener, but canned air doesn't have as much... smell, yet still has propellant enough to get high. I worked in a pharmacy for some years. A teenager came into the store one day, went to the stationary isle, and started huffing the canned air. Dude was a bit violent towards the pharmacist, who was checking to see what the noise was. We wound up calling the cops and feeling really badly for his mother, who was waiting in the car in the parking lot. Luckily, most folks have canned air for normal purposes - and it seems you did as well.
zingmars 8y ago
Pocket knives are very useful for (adult) backpackers, mountaineers and other people who do a lot of outdoors stuff. Hell even in every day life pocket knives can come in handy. You never know when you will need to cut a zip tie or something.
- ahje 8y ago
  As a home owner I wouldn't be able to go outside without my multi-tool (which includes a 7 cm foldable blade). I use it on a daily basis, and always keep it in my pocket even when going somewhere. Only reaction I ever got was from a security guard at a store, when I took it up to cut a piece of cable because the store's cable cutter was too dull. He asked where I bought it. When I was a kid, I walked around with a 10 cm utility knife in my belt, at all times. If I'd done that today on the other hand...
Theodores 8y ago
The irony of the pocket knife (Swiss Army Knife) for me is the amount of times that mine came in handy for the tweezers. I saved countless people from the agony of a splinter with those little tweezers. I worked in retail at the time - Saturday job, something kids don't do any more - and many fixtures were made of wood. Splinters happened. I saved the day every time someone was in agony from a splinter. I didn't keep records but at least every fortnight there would be an incident of getting the tweezers out. In those days leaving the house without my pocket knife would have felt like leaving the house without my keys now. The funny thing was that I didn't have keys, the lock on the door at home was only used once or twice a year when on holidays or visiting distant relatives. Fires were also another large part of my upbringing. Nowadays we have recycling but there was a time when adults would be okay with kids lighting fires, either in a fireplace, out in the back yard or for amusement with friends and flammable explosives. You wouldn't let a child anywhere near petrol nowadays but back in the day that was something on hand and used to get damp things started. The only punishment would be for using it ineffectively. My pen knife was mostly used for opening boxes, it was sharpened a few times by adults as a favour. Imagine that today, sharpening a kid's knife for them and that being okay.
ryanmercer 8y ago
>Surely kids still try to make gunpowder, what are you talking about? The late Jerry Pournelle told a story (at least) once on a twit.tv podcast about how when he was a child the encyclopedias effectively told you how to make explosives, and he did, and damn near blew himself up dropping them into a pond while he was in a boat. More recently, as part of the firecrafter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firecrafter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firecrafter )line of patches here in Indiana in scouts in the mid-late 90s we were taught out to mix various automotive, and household, chemicals to create fires. One involved dipping cloth into an open-cell car battery, using some water purification tabs and some sugar (I think we used pixie sticks) IIRC.

Zenst 8y ago

In the UK, both are now illegal, can't even sell a knife to anybody under 18, same with glue and many things above and beyond alcohol and tobacco. Equally, having a knife in public, would be mandatory jail in the UK in the current climate. For a child, they would be taken into care and some serious nightmares for the parents from social services and the police. As for explosives, all the above, but far worse. By default you would get classed a terrorist until proven innocent style justice on that one, again the current climate.

ada1981 8y ago
My friends and I grew up field testing pretty much everything in the anarchist cook book. Our summers were filled making exotic explosives and blowing things up. It’s a wonder we all lived, with no major injuries or jail time. Our antics would land a kid these days in Guantanamo Bay.
- BFLpL0QNek 8y ago
  Having a copy of the anarchist / jolly roger cookbook would have you serving jail time in 2019. I remember a time where you would see printed copies at car boot sales or numerous geocity copies.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    Not on its own. It's been considered additional evidence for (planning) terrorism as far as I know.
  - ada1981 8y ago
    You could buy it at a local comic book store in the 90s in Erie, PA. (Ps, my local pizza shop, just down the road from the comic shop, was the feature of the Netflix doc Evil Genius. The Pizza Bomber was the dude who brought us our pizza and my best friends managed the shop when it all went down.)
frosted-flakes 8y ago
What kind of knives are we talking about? Are even mini Swiss Army knives with 1.5" blades banned? What about a multi-tool like a Leatherman Wave, which has three 3" blades along with pliers, etc? I carry my leatherman everywhere I go, and wouldn't blink if I saw a 14 year old with one. Ontario, Canada.
- Zak 8y ago
  UK law is that a folding knife under 3" is generally legal to carry in public. Anything else requires a "good reason", which can be problematic if the cop/judge doesn't see things your way. A court ruling some time ago decided that a folding knife with a locking mechanism is actually a fixed blade and therefore not generally legal to carry. Traditional Swiss Army Knives are non-locking and most of them are under 3". Most modern multitools do have locking blades and would run afoul of the aforementioned court ruling. I'm not sure if being under 18 changes things, but it very well might given the UK has such a hostile attitude toward teenagers that it popularized the use of a low-grade sonic weapon to discourage their presence in public spaces (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito).
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    Sounds like the leatherman I had as a teenager would be illegal then; that's pretty nuts. The most dangerous thing I ever did with it was take apart a microwave oven, and that didn't even involve the blade.
    - tikkabhuna 8y ago
      I have a leatherman in London with a locking blade. It was a Christmas present from my dad and I emailed the local police about the legality of it. Ultimately, if you're walking round with it in the bottom of your bag and you have a use for it, you'll be fine. They're looking to stop people from having it in their pocket as they're walking round town. Same with the kitchen knives, got it down the back of your trousers 11pm loitering around, they're gonna get you. They're legal to have at home as well, and can be bought on Amazon.
blibble 8y ago
tesco sells gunpowder perfectly legally in the form of fireworks (but yes you have to be 18)
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Fireworks are not legal for sale or possession in the more "progressive" parts of the US. (quotes added to emphasize the irony)
DanBC 8y ago
> Equally, having a knife in public, would be mandatory jail in the UK in the current climate. No, this is untrue, please don't spread misinformation like this. If you're carrying a small and legal knife you're okay. If you're carrying a bigger knife but have a good reason you're okay. It's only if you're taking a knife into a football stadium or school or if you're affiliated with a gang that you're going to risk prosecution, and even then jail would be unusual. https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-knives-bladed-and-pointed-articles https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-kniv... Here's the CPS saying that youths may not even be charged, let alone receive a prison sentence: > The first arrest of a youth aged 16 years or over, for simple possession of an offensive weapon or sharply pointed blade, with no aggravating factors will normally result in a charge. > The first arrest of a youth aged under 16 years for simple possession of an offensive weapon or sharply pointed blade, with no aggravating factors, will result, in a Youth Caution or a Youth Conditional Caution. This must be supported by an appropriate YOT intervention, preferably with elements focussed on anti-knife crime education. For a youth under 16 years, an out of court disposal which is not a youth caution or a youth conditional caution should not be used. The sentencing council has guidance here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/bladed-articles-and-offensive-weapons-definitive-guideline/ https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/blade... For "Section 139 Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Bladed and Pointed Articles)" the recommendation is here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/bladed-articles-and-offensive-weapons-possession/ https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-co... > Maximum: 4 years’ custody > Offence range: Fine – 2 years 6 months’ custody But you need to read it to work out what tips it into prison sentence vs a fine.
- bluedino 8y ago
  You can't take a knife into a football stadium here in the USA, either.
RugnirViking 8y ago
I was recently a child in the uk only a few years ago (I'm in my early 20s) and got into trouble for having a knife while playing out in the woods. I was sent home with the knife confiscated, and it was later returned to me. Of course, its entirely possible in other circumstances for it to be less/more acceptable. While at scouts we could of course carry knives without worry, and even met police officers who came to talk to us who had no issue with us carrying it while explicitly using them for scouting.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  Who decided it was a problem — police, or an interfering parent?
  - RugnirViking 8y ago
    police

_AzMoo 8y ago

All of the chemistry sets I've seen for the last 10 years have been severely nerfed. Nothing like the type of thing I had when I was a kid in the 80s.

ajdlinux 8y ago

> Surely kids still try to make gunpowder I'm in my mid-20s, having grown up in a jurisdiction where home fireworks have been banned for many years. Apart from my year 9 science teacher, who let off an explosion down one end of the school oval so we could time the difference seeing the flash and hearing the bang, I can't think of anyone I know who has told me they've ever tried to make gunpowder at home. Obviously I think I probably do know a few people who have but not told me. But it's not something that really ever crossed my mind as a thing you would do. (Of course, I'm very conformist by disposition, perhaps I just don't hang out with sufficiently exciting friends.) All things considered I think I prefer overly strict regulation on explosives to inadequately strict...

TomMarius 8y ago
I'm in my early 20's, living in Central Europe. We made a lot of gunpowder when I was a kid, and we shot fireworks at each other when I was teen. Up until around 13 I was carrying a knife everywhere I went. Sometimes we played cops & robbers and were shooting each other with realistically looking airsoft guns right on the street, later we bought more powerful weapons. When I was around 14 I had a very good looking fake of AK 47, a cop once stopped me when I was carrying it openly on my back - to ask where I bought it so he could buy it for his son. None of that is possible today I think, except for the knife, that is still okay where I live. Boy & Girl Scouts are wildly popular here for more than 100 years, that probably helps.

TheAceOfHearts 8y ago

In California you get carded when buying anti-dust compressed air, and they won't sell to minors. I was baffled when I was buying a few cans at my local Fry's and they asked me for ID. I remember having lots of compressed air cans around my home when I was growing up and I somehow managed to not kill myself.

Symbiote 8y ago
As you probably know, it isn't air but an alkane mix. I'm more concerned by the label "air" meaning people don't know this. A colleague sprayed it in his mouth... (no harm done, but still)
- bluedino 8y ago
  You can get a buzz off canned air. There's a famous episode of the A&E show 'Intervention' with that topic (walking on sunshine)
Broken_Hippo 8y ago
This is more because folks huff canned air to get high. The first time I heard of this was someone huffing air freshener, but canned air doesn't have as much... smell, yet still has propellant enough to get high. I worked in a pharmacy for some years. A teenager came into the store one day, went to the stationary isle, and started huffing the canned air. Dude was a bit violent towards the pharmacist, who was checking to see what the noise was. We wound up calling the cops and feeling really badly for his mother, who was waiting in the car in the parking lot. Luckily, most folks have canned air for normal purposes - and it seems you did as well.

zingmars 8y ago

Pocket knives are very useful for (adult) backpackers, mountaineers and other people who do a lot of outdoors stuff. Hell even in every day life pocket knives can come in handy. You never know when you will need to cut a zip tie or something.

ahje 8y ago
As a home owner I wouldn't be able to go outside without my multi-tool (which includes a 7 cm foldable blade). I use it on a daily basis, and always keep it in my pocket even when going somewhere. Only reaction I ever got was from a security guard at a store, when I took it up to cut a piece of cable because the store's cable cutter was too dull. He asked where I bought it. When I was a kid, I walked around with a 10 cm utility knife in my belt, at all times. If I'd done that today on the other hand...

Theodores 8y ago

The irony of the pocket knife (Swiss Army Knife) for me is the amount of times that mine came in handy for the tweezers. I saved countless people from the agony of a splinter with those little tweezers. I worked in retail at the time - Saturday job, something kids don't do any more - and many fixtures were made of wood. Splinters happened. I saved the day every time someone was in agony from a splinter. I didn't keep records but at least every fortnight there would be an incident of getting the tweezers out. In those days leaving the house without my pocket knife would have felt like leaving the house without my keys now. The funny thing was that I didn't have keys, the lock on the door at home was only used once or twice a year when on holidays or visiting distant relatives. Fires were also another large part of my upbringing. Nowadays we have recycling but there was a time when adults would be okay with kids lighting fires, either in a fireplace, out in the back yard or for amusement with friends and flammable explosives. You wouldn't let a child anywhere near petrol nowadays but back in the day that was something on hand and used to get damp things started. The only punishment would be for using it ineffectively. My pen knife was mostly used for opening boxes, it was sharpened a few times by adults as a favour. Imagine that today, sharpening a kid's knife for them and that being okay.

ryanmercer 8y ago

>Surely kids still try to make gunpowder, what are you talking about? The late Jerry Pournelle told a story (at least) once on a twit.tv podcast about how when he was a child the encyclopedias effectively told you how to make explosives, and he did, and damn near blew himself up dropping them into a pond while he was in a boat. More recently, as part of the firecrafter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firecrafter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firecrafter )line of patches here in Indiana in scouts in the mid-late 90s we were taught out to mix various automotive, and household, chemicals to create fires. One involved dipping cloth into an open-cell car battery, using some water purification tabs and some sugar (I think we used pixie sticks) IIRC.